Contents

History

Origin

1000's of years ago, The Reach and the Green Lantern Corps were sworn enemies. The Corps finally defeated them but not before they seeded planets with their Scarab technology. The Scarab is a feat of extraterrestrial technology that fuses to the spine and grants its wearer living armor with incredible powers. However, each Scarab was programmed to eventually override the personality of the user and serve the collective of the Reach. The tale of one Scarab began somewhere in the backside of the Milky Way Galaxy. It would save a village of lifeforms called Gibbles from the space pirate, Kanjar Ro. In return, the Gibbles idolized the Scarab as "The Great One" and erected as statue in its honor. However, the Gibbles witnessed their hero's untimely end as well.

On Earth, the mantle of Blue Beetle passes from hand to hand every generation. After the sacrifice of Ted Kord, the Scarab landed in an unused lot in El Paso, Texas. It was discovered by a teenager and Batman fan named Jaime Reyes. While Reyes slept, the Scarab re-activated and fused itself to the base of Reyes' spine. Reyes discovered that he entered into a symbiosis with the object and became the next Blue Beetle. He was a superhero just like Batman and the Justice Society of America, whom he heard of stories of from his grandfather. However, he soon discovered that the Scarab had developed free will and can take control of the armor and use its powers at a time of its choosing. The armor has demonstrated multiple forms of flight, energy projectiles, and defense but depends on the wearer's imagination.

The Blue Beetle soon caught the attention of Batman. Batman offered to mentor the hero and quickly deduced his secret identity. Reyes struggles to keep his identity a secret from everyone else, even his best friend Paco. That doesn't appear to be too hard, as he often talks about Batman and his many team ups.

While on a mission to deter a meteroid from a collision course with a space station, Blue Beetle's armor transported Batman and himself to the Gibbles. At Batman's behest, Blue Beetle tried to rally the Gibbles into an army and inspire them to take up arms. During the confrontation with Kanjar Ro, he was exposed to the Scarab's one weakness, a specific high intensity frequency. Kanjar Ro briefly assumed control of the Scarab but Reyes resorted to his wits and took back the Scarab.

The Scarab's unique personality continued to develop. During a winter season, it began to communicate with Jaime Reyes in a manner only he understood. However, Reyes' doubts about being chosen to be the heir to the Blue Beetle legacy also began to grow. After flying 1442 miles to ask Batman about it, he was unsuccessful. The Scarab suggested an Internet search. They went to Hub City and discovered the previous Blue Beetle's secret headquarters underneath Kord Enterprises. After activating the Bug, he discovered a travel log and flew to the last known coordinates.

Upon arriving on Science Island, Blue Beetle met a man that cast himself as Ted Kord, the previous Blue Beetle. It was his evil uncle, Jarvis Kord. Kord convinced Reyes that he had a special role in using the Scarab to benefit all of mankind. Reyes willingly used the Scarab to power on Kord's drones. Afterwards, Reyes discovered a facility that was arming drones with weapons. Kord decided it was time to kill Reyes but Batman intervened. As Blue Beetle, Reyes decided instead of stopping the countdown to launching the drones, he would overwhelm the nuclear reactors powering the island. With Kord in custody, Reyes confided in Batman that he only wants to make the right decisions like Ted Kord did.

In case any of his allies were compromised, Batman devised methods to defeat them. After Owlman escaped his prison in the Batcave, he stole Batman's files and implemented the weapons. Blue Beetle was knocked unconscious by a special taser gun. Reyes and Paco traveled to Gotham City for a campus tour of Gotham University. Although, Reyes' transcript indicates an excellent academic record, he maintains his interest in the Gotham University's criminal justice program. He was given a tour by Professor Bertinelli, who happened to be his super heroine crush, Huntress. Although Batman is adamant Huntress is uninterested, Reyes continues to hold a torch for Huntress' affections.

In the face of a new video game in his name, Blue Beetle began to suffer from pride and went on a solo mission to answer a distress call in space, despite Batman's warning. Beetle came up against Evil Star and asked Paco, of all people, for advice. Before Batman could advise him, Beetle hung up on him. Upon Paco's theory, Blue Beetle generated an electromagnetic pulse and shorted out the Starlight. Evil Star was powerless and defeated. During the battle, the Scarab began to take control of Reyes without him even realizing it.

After escorting Star to Oa to be imprisoned, the Green Lantern Corps demanded he surrender the Scarab. After learning the truth, Reyes was taken over by the Scarab. It disabled Oa's defense protocols and joined nine other Scarabs to attack Oa's Central Power Battery. Thanks to Batman's coaxing, Reyes used his will power to override the programming of the Reach and then poisoned the collective with the Corps' ring energy. With the Reach defeated, the Guardians of the Universe and Corps decided that Reyes proved himself to keep his Scarab. Batman joined in and endorsed Reyes for solo missions. Shortly afterwards, Blue Beetle confronted Planet Master in Yarmouth, Texas. The villain was stealing a large deposit of gold. Blue Beetle was more than excited when Aquaman showed up to lend his assistance. He was even more psyched when Aquaman invited him to Atlantis. The battle was caught on the news and featured.

After taking Atlantis, Faceless Hunter targeted Blue Beetle while he was out flying on patrol. He used some device to absorb blasts from Blue Beetle and redirect it. Despite the armor, the Starro clone still was able to latch onto Beetle's face and take over his mind. During the aftermath of the Starro Invasion, Blue Beetle assisted in extracting Starro clones and teamed up with others to fight an infected Aquaman. He later answered a Bat-shaped S.O.S., and helped the new hero Stargirl defeat Mantis. Blue Beetle purposefully mocked Mantis then the two heroes overloaded the villain with energy. After Stargirl left, Blue Beetle got a call from Batman. Assuring Batman the fight was over, Blue Beetle seemed to volunteer to show Stargirl the ropes. Batman decided Blue Beetle was ready for the next level in crime fighting, join the Justice League. Beetle was smitten and took endless amounts of photographs while enamoured with Fire and Ice. He became best friends with Booster Gold.

Personality and Traits

Jaime Reyes is shown as a big fan of Super Heroes and often discusses them with his friend Paco. (However, in the episode when Plastic Man screws up again, Jaime can be seen shaking his head.) In Invasion of the Secret Santas, Jaime revealed that the scarab has started talking to him and calls him goober, however, in later episodes he simply calls the scarab armor.

In Fall of the Blue Beetle, Jaime feels the need to have been chosen instead of the scarab finding him as a result of dumb luck. Nevertheless, Jaime at times also shows a goofy side and often provides comic relief.

On a side note, he has shown to be somewhat a flirt and tries to get the attention of the other female superheroes such as Huntress, Fire, and Ice but to no avail.

Powers and Abilities

The Scarab: grants Jaime a large array of powers and weaponry. While originally lacking even the ability to turn into the Blue Beetle, he eventually gains better control over it. He has a variety of guns, melee weapons and the suit even grants him the ability to grow to a very muscular state. The armor also grants Jaime enough strength to lift a small truck, and allows him to survive unaided in space. The scarab produces anti-bodies of its own, which allows a regenerative healing factor to Jaime Reyes' body. Jaime also has a large amount of willpower allowing him to be master of the scarab rather than the other way around.